To shed some light on cattle Egret breeding in Victoria I offer the
following information.
Atlas of Victorian Birds
1987 information from the old Atlas of Victorian Birds (Eimson et al. 1987)
shows the only breeding site for Cattle Egrets to be from Gunbower Island
near Cohuna/Kerang on the Murray River in northern Victoria. To my
knowledge Cattle Egrets have not bred in Victoria for over 40 years, so
evidence of recent nesting would be most welcome. There is no published
evidence that Cattle Egrets have ever nested in southern Victoria.
The historic data (two records) of breeding by the species were both
associated with major flood events on the Murray, when large numbers of
other egret species also bred in Gunbower forest.
Egret breeding observations
As usual, if anyone has any evidence of egret breeding (ALL species) in
Victoria then they should immediately contact me or the Atlas of Victorian
Wildlife (039 412 4475). All egrets except the Cattle Egret are threatened
species in Victoria and we need to keep tabs on any breeding events. My
contact details are below.
Egret conservation in Victoria
The Department of Sustainability & Environment has published (on the web
only) and Action Statement on the three threatened egrets in Victoria. It
is available as follows:
http://www.dse.vic.gov.au
then 'Plants & animals'
then 'Native plants & animals'
then 'Threatened species & communities'
then 'Action Statements'
then 'Fauna', then 'Great Egret et al.'
cheers, Martin
Martin O'Brien
Executive Scientific Officer, Scientific Advisory Committee
Department of Sustainability and Environment
4/250 Victoria Pde. (PO Box 500), East Melbourne 3002
Tel: 9412 4567 Fax: 9412 4586
(prefixes: Interstate 03 International 613)
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